Software, mobile startups attract Portland Seed Fund investments

The Portland Seed Fund on Tuesday announced a first round of eight startup
companies that will receive $25,000 investments to help develop their products.

The $2 million-plus fund was raised mostly from grants from the cities of
Portland and Hillsboro, and the Oregon Growth Account. It aims to address the
area's chronic shortage of startup capital by providing early stage "seed loans"
to the companies, and to keep the most promising companies rooted in the metro
area by providing coaching, follow-on financing and introductions to wealthy
angel investors and venture capitalists.

The fund is mostly focused on startups developing software and mobile
applications, a segment that has seen a resurgence in Portland over the last
several years. Silicon Valley venture firms have also poured capital into that
sector in the past year.

About 130 companies submitted applications for the first round of funding.
Fund managers Angela Jackson and Jim Huston, of the investment firm Bridge City
Ventures, conducted screening interviews and ultimately selected eight
companies. The companies receiving the awards include:

4-Tell, which develops software to increase sales for retailers by
making personalized recommendations to consumers who visit websites.

Audio Name, an application that allows users to create audio avatars
in their email or social media profiles.

Geoloqi, a mobile application and web platform that makes it easy for
companies to build location-based applications.

Hively, which develops software for customer-service teams to gather
feedback and measure team performance.

InvestorInMe, which develops software that helps people easily find
stocks to match their personal values, opinions, and personality.

Vizify, which develops software to help job seekers create resumes,
enhance their online profiles and track their professional lives.

Zinofile, a Portland-based online media company offering comic book
publishers a tool to digitize and realize the value of their catalogues online.

It remains to be seen whether the seed loans will catalyze much economic
activity or if the fund managers can pick winners in the notoriously hit-or-miss
startup community. For years, however, both emerging and established tech
entrepreneurs have pointed to the paucity of venture funding and shortage of
experienced VC partners as a primary reason that no breakout success stories
have emerged from the Silicon Forest during the last decade.

A $2 million, publicly backed seed fund making micro-sized investments
obviously won't solve that problem. But backers say it's well worth the effort,
and could provide vital resources to establish a handful of companies and keep
them from abandoning Portland for more financially fertile ground in Silicon
Valley or elsewhere.

"We're filling a gap that has existed in the Portland venture community,
but there are still gaps," said Huston. "The problem we're trying to solve is to
give these entrepreneurs with a nugget of an idea enough capital to prove out
their business model so they can then go raise the next round of significant
capital."

Huston said the fund plans to invest in 25 companies over two years, and
make follow-on investments in the highest performers. The investments are
structured as convertible notes, giving it an equity interest in the firms that
are successful.

The seed fund complements a technology-oriented business incubator that the
Portland advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy has established at its Pearl District
offices. Backers of that effort include some of that company's prominent
clients, including Coca-Cola Co., Nike and Target. Those companies are
interested in developing expertise applicable to their businesses.